Thomas nicholson



(No Model.) y W l NICHOLSON, Jr. SAFETY WRENCH FOR UNLOADING CARS. No.518,533. Patented Apr. 17,1894.

ammo/whom d mm arm STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS NICHOLSON, JR, OF ASHBOURNE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFTO EMILY I-I. NICHOLSON.

SAFETY-WRENCH FOR UNLOADING CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,533, dated April17, 1894.

Appli t n fi January 27, 1894:. Serial No. 498.251. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, THOMAS NICHOLSON, J r., a cltizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Ashbourne, in the county of Montgomery and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements inSafety- Wrenches for Unloading Cars; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 1t appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to a safety wrench for unloading cars, and hasfor its object to provide simple and effective means for opening thegate of a hopper or analogous car wlth ease and readiness, and toprevent danger to life after the shaft has become started bya failure todisengage the wrench, as is now frequently the result.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of theconstruction and arrangement of the several parts which will be morefully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the car,showing the wrench applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective Viewof the wrench.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts in both views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a car having a shaft2 which extends transversely across the car from one side to the otherand has one end squared as at 3. Around the shaft 3 is wound the chainwhich is attached to the doors or gates 4 of the car and when the car isloaded with coal or other material it will readily be seen that there isconsiderable pressure on the said doors or gates. I On the shaftadjacent to the squared end of the same is mounted a ratchet wheel 5,and adjacent to said ratchet wheel is a pawl 6 and near the pawl is astop or guard 7 to prevent the pawl from being thrown backward its fullrevolution. The doors are held in closed position against the pressurethat'is brought to bear thereon by the engagement of the said pawl withthe ratchet wheel. In unloading the car it becomes necessary to startthe shaft in motion so that the chain thereon will be unwound, and thedoors or gates dropped. To do this it is necessary to use a wrench andafter the shaft has beone end a lug 9 which rises therefrom, and

forms with the adjacent part of the said arm an angular recess 10. Thislug is adapted to be. made either stationary or adjustable with the saidarm, and slightly in rear thereof is pivotally secured the lowerbifurcated end of a short arm 11, which rises in acurved line from thelonger arm and then extends outwardly in a horizontal plane and has adownwardly projecting lug 12 formed at its outer end and which lies in avertical plane beyond the outside of the terminating end of the long arm8, so that the inner face of the said lug will be in line with the outerend of the said long arm. The said shorter arm may be adj ustablyattached to the longer arm and the adjustability of the shorter arm aswell as the lug on the inner arm is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings. It will be seen that through the medium ofthe lug on the longand that on the short arm a diagonal resistance is offered to engage thesquared end of the shaft 1, and by drawing downward on the lever tostart the shaft a pulling action is exerted on the shorter arm againstthe resistance ofiered by the lug on the longer arm and that the momentthe shaft starts to revolve, it can freely do so without carrying thewrench around therewith in view of the pivoted attachment of the saidshorter arm, thereby permitting the wrench to be held in the hand withsafety as the shorter arm will fly away or be thrown away from the shaftby the rotation of the latter.

The stop or guard 7 is to prevent the pawl 6 from becoming accidentallydisengaged on the ratchet wheel 5 when the car is loaded or the doorsare up in their normal position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is V catedand its outer upper end straight and provided with a depending lug whoseinner surface is in line parallel with the outer end I of the saidlonger arm and formed with the l h mass sfl lug 12, for-resistance inengaging a square ended shafhsubstantially as and for the pur- I posespecified. l r; z Ini testimonywhereof have signed this? speeificationinthe preseneeof twosuhserib ing witnesses, W I a I THOMASNICHOLSON J3.Witnessesr V GEO. W. WILSON,

JACOB L. LOPER;

